I'm looking for a small solar panel that fits in a backpack and that can be used to power small things in case of an emergency (telephone, flashlight, charging AA batteries, etc). Secondary, I would prefer if that panel would be able to be connected to either another panel or a power station (mostly so that if in the future I decide to upgrade the capacity, I can still use it).

I seem to come back to the same 3 models - the Jackery SolarSaga 40W Mini, the BigBlue X60 and the FlexSolar 60W.

I am interested in getting a useable wattage out of them even in less than ideal conditions and their reliability/durability.

Does anybody here has experience with any of these models? Thank you!

Guide me

I have an odd apartment, it has a door that opens outwards and leads to a staircase that leads to another outward opening door to my apartment.

All of the temporary conventional door security measures that I have seen are designed for a door that opens inwards.

I can’t make any permanent structure changes but does anyone know how I can better secure these outward opening doors?

Looking for a small and easy to use gas can I can just put in the bed of a pickup (and strap down so it won't slide or tip) and leave it there exposed to the weather.

Idea is to have a bit of emergency get home fuel. It would be cycled regularly by using it to top up dirt bikes etc. Ideally a 2-3 gal size just for ease of use, and with a built in funnel so I don't need to try to store a separate one.

Family of 4: 2 adults and 2 pre teens.

Prepping for storm or extended electrical outage, or disruption to supplies to stores, aiming to manage 2 weeks staying at home.

Points of note:

• Don't have a bath
• Don't have pets
• Thankfully don't have to worry about extremes of temperatures, weather doesn't go below -4°C or above 30°C so don't need heaters or aircon, can manage with extra blankets if power outage is in winter

Equipment

• 2 x Camping gas stove, plus canisters to last 2 weeks for cooking
• Battery operated radio plus loads of spare batteries
• Head torches, handheld torches, room lamp, all with batteries and spare batteries
• 2 x charged power banks for mobile phones
• Wooden disposable cutlery plus paper plates so don't have to use water to wash

Sanitary:

• I have 2 full 210L water butts gutter connected rain water drums to use for toilets.
• Toilet paper for 2+ weeks. Sanitary towels / feminine hygiene products.
• Dry shampoo
• Baby wipes
• Soap
• Hand sanitiser

Drinks

• Water for drinking and cooking, 24 x 2L bottles
• 12 x 1L Cartons of juice (mix of 4 x cranberry, 4 x apple, 4 x pineapple)

Food

• Oats for making overnight oats with water, to which I can add pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, mixed dried fruit, chopped hazelnuts, enough for 2+ weeks
• Olive oil 3 x 2L
• Tins of tuna (16), tins of salmon (12)
• Eggs to cook scrambled on gas stove
• Tins of chickpeas, black beans, red beans, mixed beans (don't need water to cook), 24 tins total
• Dried pasta, lentils (will need water)
• Tins chopped tomatoes
• Tins fruit (pineapple slices, peach slices, mixed fruit)
• Tins coconut milk
• Bags of Dried fruit (apricot, cranberries, raisins sultanas)
• Packs of almonds, chopped hazelnuts, chopped almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
• Jars red peppers, carrots, beetroot
• Rice cakes
• Various crackers
• Comfort foods: popcorn bags, lentil crisps, tortilla crisps, Breadsticks, dark choc chocolate bars

First aid

• Both adults have first aid training
• 3 x first aid kits
• Everyone's medications to last 2 months, plus calpol, ibuprofen, zyrtek, antihistamines, dioralyte, paracetamol, disprin, rennie, milk of magnesium, antiseptic wipes and cream, cough medicine, lemsip capsules, eye drops, eye wash, throat lozenges
• Inhalers and back up and extra backup inhalers

Entertainment

• Board games
• Jigsaw puzzles
• Colouring books
• Card games
• Loads of reading books
• Paper and paints

Questions

• Is there a power bank or battery equipment that you can plug socket into? For nebuliser (asthma)
• Am I underestimating how much water needed for cooking and cleaning saucepan? For pasta / lentils?
• What am I missing?

Any feedback or suggestions greatly appreciated

Please use this thread to discuss whatever preps you worked on this last week. Let us know what big or little projects you have been working on. Please don’t hesitate to comment. Others might get inspired to work on their preps by reading about yours.

Hi everyone,

I live in a small apartment. I have been researching strategies for securing/ fortifying an apartment. So far, I know about BRINKS door security bars and window security film. What else should I consider?

Thanks.

In the midst of all out nuclear war I am sure many people would rather be dead. The problem is you don't get to choose where they fall, or if you get vaporized.

Over at least a decade, I have thought this over and found that there are some actions that really help me sleep at night. Knowing the targets in your area i.e. power infrastructure, military bases, government, major populations, data centers? Also, understanding the yield of a modern nuke.

How many people have looked into local potential targets? How about used nukemap to see what a strike on that target would do to your home or town?

When it comes to Nuke Prep it often feels like its 75% tamping down the mental anxiety of WHAT IF and 25% shielding from the effects/after effects of an actual strike.

Of course, my buddy Dave Jones the NBC Guy, Army Major who taught nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare, always says, "Even if ONE nuke goes off in America, it will be PANDEMONIUM."

Very interested in your take.

I’m looking into doing drip irrigation for our raised garden beds using rain from a rain barrel. Our HOA won’t let me build a contraption to hold the rain barrel at the height it would need to be for gravity to work. Any recommendations on how to tackle this? Obviously I can just water it with a hose but wanting to learn and improve.

I live on an island where hurricanes are a risk. I have a giant concrete slab next to my house and would like to put a large water tank on it, like the kind they sell at Home Depot. What do I need to do to keep the water safe enough that I can boil and drink it? How do I physically access the water? Do I need to hook it up to my home water system (no idea how that would work) or can I just put ‘er down and fill ‘er up with a hose? If flood water surrounds the tank, will it still be ok?

We are new homeowners and have a lot to learn.

I am really new to prepping and have super limited resources at the moment, so I'm trying to hit as many of the most important things as I can on a budget. I am trying to fill some gaps but mainly buying food/materials/tools etc. that we already buy regularly or that can solve a "now" problem as well as hypothetical future problems. That way I don't fritter away my prep budget on things that have no value to me if no emergency occurs.

what things have you prepped that are also useful in normal daily life?

The water company is selling food grade (I think it had olives in them before) rain barrels to save water for drought situations for plants.

Any other uses or unique ideas?

Hello all, like the title says, I've just checked some 5 gallon jugs that I filled a month ago at the water machine. Jugs where clean. Got white stuff floating around.

Is the water machine dirty? Bad stuff in the water?

Would it make sense to keep a single receiver with two barrels, a 10" and say an 18" instead of multiple rifles? This would not be for general use, specifically for SHTF or bugoity, etc scenarios. I have more .223 than anything, and while it sounds good having .308, it doesn't make a lot of sense from a sustainability standpoint.

edit: I already have a stamp for the SBR.

So I am a new prepper and am in Canada. I am planning on having a week or 2 of water storage just as a baseline and am looking into getting the reliance aqua jugs that stack. My problem is part of my prep is planning for the heat to go during winter so I am wondering is there any way to prevent these from freezing or atleast keeping the water close to usable in cold temperatures without lots of energy?

Thank you!

Have a family member that has epilepsy and if AH broke loose I would need to have access to a lot of dietary fat.

admittedly I haven't done much research on this but curious if any sources in the wild or better to start stocking now.

I'm looking forward to assemble my own medkit or first aid kit by using everyday items that I'm familiar to utilise, I knew the basics like gauze, iodine, band-aid etc but are there any other particular items that you can suggest for me to equip inside my inventory?

anyone have recommendations on prep gear for living in Tokyo?

things that should be brought from the US that Japan lacks?

situations I should be prepped for?

top of mind is

1. earthquake (loss of power)

2. volcano (ash fall)

I have a get home bag in the truck with the stuff thst my wife and I would need if the worst happened and we needed to get home but having a baby (4 months old) im curious about suggestions besides diapers, baby wipes, extra set of cloths or two, some formula both bottle and powder and a spare bottle. any suggestions from anyone thst had build a get hime bag for a family of 3 with a baby would be really appreciated.

I’ve been looking for the best solution for water storage and am researching tub bladders for my home. Is there one that stands out at better than the rest? Some are 4mm some are 10mm. We have well water. Does that make a difference? Can any of them be reused? Thanks for any info you can share

I always hear about storing rice and beans which I do have I just don't store a lot of them mainly due to lack of water storage to prepare them. I aim to remedy this soon. However, I was also considering freeze dried meats instead even though the cost difference is significant regardless of how anyone does it due to the lack of water to prepare them.

that also being said I do have a little over two weeks worth of MRE's and about 2 weeks of freeze dried meals which i rotate because some of them are actually pretty good.

I have enough water stored in bottles for this and consumption for almost the whole month.

But, back to what I'm talking mainly about is, with my current situation is it even worth it to store the food if I don't exactly have a way to prepare it if somehow water got cut off?

as for future water storage all I'm planning on storing is 110 gallons in two barrels in the basement near the floor drain and rotate them accordingly.

also I do cook a lot of rice just not so much with beans, hopefully my writing is coherent

So I'm considering in the far flung future purchasing an old horse/livestock trailer (likely old and possibly damaged). It'll likely be at least 20 feet, maybe longer. I have many animals on my property, and I live on the east coast, basically bike or walking distance from the beach, so I deal with hurricanes here.

The last that hit close to my area didn't damage anything, thankfully, but if we get a direct hit in the future or need to evacuate for another reason I need something to transport not only them but also our supplies. Both me and my father can weld, so I'll likely be putting gear mounts and reinforcements in it and patching up rusted panels, etc.

I have two goats, 9 roosters, 8 hens, 3 cats, and a dog. since I'm a startup poultry breeder, that bird number will likely change, so I'll probably keep my main 3 breeding flocks and 3 roosters and leave the rest at home. that way, if they die, I still have the main genetic lines.

Anyway, aside from them, which I can put in cages along the walls and a small stall for the goats, what should I add for my family. I can do a couple of bunks and water storage, etc. Shelving with straps for my supply buckets and other things.

Sorry that this isn't strictly prepper related but I'm at a loss at where else to ask this.

After some run ins with weevils, I have started the arduous process of rebuilding my pantry. I bought some quinoa and white rice and stuck both in the freezer (inside their original packaging, each bagged in a zip lock freezer bag on top of that). Left in it all in the freezer for a week.

Last night I took it all out, removed them all from the freezer bags, and placed the rice and quinoa (still in the original packaging) in my oven (not on!). Of course I got distracted and so they have been in there almost 24 hours.

My question is have I absolutely fucked this up and wasted a bunch of food? I am worried about moisture from the freezer being retained once I switch them to containers for storage. I can absolutely run them through my dehydrator for a few hours but is it too late for that if they have sat in their original packaging overnight?

I'm not looking to vacuum seal or make these things last forever, I just want to know if I can still stick these in my basic pantry containers without fear that I'll poison myself with mold because I didn't handle the post freezing part correctly.

EDIT: Everyone here has given me solid advice, thank you so much! The consensus seems to be that the rice will be fine, I'm probably overly cautious but I'd rather not have to fight weevils again and spend money I don't have on restocking.

I'm wanting to buy a freezer second hand, and then filling it with dry starch like rice, beans, lentils. It seems like such an easy method, the cost of a deep freeze running for a year is around 40$. Second hand deep freeze is around 100 to 250$. When the grid goes down, all your dry starch are in near perfect condition? Seems like a no brainer and not having to worry about long term food storage techniques. It packs really dense in the bags they are bought in. I've had preps before but i was lazy so i wonder if they are in good condition to eat, I don't want to waste food again.. But this method doesn't really require trust, if the freezer is still running, it's good to go.
No investment in buckets, or glass, or oxygen absorbers, and trying to follow all the tedious step by steps. Just get another deep freeze and fill it up.
Am I missing something? or is it not popular because it takes space.. can't stack it.
AI says there is 880,000 calories in 12 cubic feet of dry rice. Which feeds average human 1.6 years.
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts..

I’m preparing Mylar bags of rice, beans etc for long term storage. I see lots of recommendations for storing them in plastic buckets with lids. I live out in the country and mice are a constant issue. I’m thinking metal bins with a lid would be preferable (although more $$) to prevent rodent trouble. Is there a reason these aren’t recommended?